The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus, botanically known as Hibiscus acetosella, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Sahara Sunset’.
The new Hibiscus was originated in Poplarville, Miss. and is a product of a mutation induction program. The parent of the present new cultivar is an unknown Hibiscus acetosella Wels. Ex Hiern seedling. The present new cultivar, selected as HAC06-11, is a seedling selection from a group of seedlings produced from seed of open pollinated purple leaf Hibiscus acetosella Welw. Ex Hiern. which were exposed to gamma-ray radiation from a Colbalt 60 source at the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture in Tifton, Ga.
‘Sahara Sunset’, identified as HAC06-11, was selected in 2006 and subsequently propagated asexually by vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in Poplarville, Miss. multiple times since 2006. Resulting plants were evaluated at nurseries in California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Texas. The unique features of ‘Sahara Sunset’ have reproduced true to type in successive generations; no aberrant types have appeared. ‘Sahara Sunset’ is the first stable variegated form of the purple leaf form of the H. acetosella species released to date.